Richmond Art Center (courtyard), 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond
Fall Family Day at Richmond Art Center (RAC) will be a special celebration of Día de los Muertos on Saturday, October 15, 12pm-3pm. Kids of all ages and their grown-ups are invited to RAC’s courtyard to celebrate Day of the Dead with art-making, music, and miniature low riders. Admission is free.
Artist Daniel Camacho is leading the festivities with a community ofrenda and paper mache skull workshop. Daniel’s work is currently on view at RAC in the exhibition De Fantasías y Realidades (September 14 – November 17, 2022).
Other activities at Fall Family Day will include a Día de los Muertos presentation by Ernesto Olmos; live printing and coloring with local art collective Liberación Gráfica; community chalk mural with Rebeca García-González; art demonstrations; marigold giveaway; and local art vendors.
Community Ofrenda: Daniel Camacho invites community members to contribute items that honor their loves ones. Daniel says, “Through an ofrenda we commemorate and remember the life and death of our loved ones. It is a celebration that allows us to carry them in our hearts and welcome them back to the world of the living for one night.” Daniel invites the community to contribute a photograph of their loved ones and an object that represents something they loved, for example their favorite drink or snack, or a toy. Items can be brought to Richmond Art Center any time during gallery hours. The altar will be on display in the West Gallery from October 15 through to the end of Día de los Muertos on November 3.
Paper Mache Calaveritas: In the calaverita workshop participants will learn to make paper mache skulls for a Día de los Muertos altar. This two day workshop – on Saturday, October 8, 12pm-2pm and Saturday, October 15, 12pm-2pm – is for participants ages six and older (although kids younger than ten should bring an adult to help). Register HERE to attend both workshops and make a calaverita from scratch. Alternatively, folks are invited to drop into the second session on October 15 at Fall Family Day to decorate a premade skull.
Artwork in top image: Daniel Camacho, De Fantasias y Realidades #2, 2022
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Dia de los Muertos, Dia familiar en el otoño
Sábado, 15 de octubre, 12pm-3pm | LIBRE
Richmond Art Center (patio), 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond
El Día de la Familia de Otoño en Richmond Art Center (RAC) será una celebración especial del Día de los Muertos el sábado 15 de octubre de 12:00 p. m. a 3:00 p. m. Niños de todas las edades y sus adultos están invitados al patio de RAC para celebrar el Día de los Muertos con obras de arte, música y lowriders en miniatura. La admisión es gratis.
El artista Daniel Camacho encabeza las festividades con una ofrenda comunitaria y un taller de calaveras de papel maché. Las obras de Daniel se pueden ver en el RAC en la exposición, De Fantasías y Realidades (14 de septiembre – 17 de noviembre de 2022).
Otras actividades en el Día de la Familia de Otoño incluirán una presentación del Día de los Muertos por el artista Ernesto Olmos; impresión y coloreado en vivo con el colectivo de arte Liberación Gráfica; se pintará un mural comunitario de tiza con Rebeca García-González; demostraciones de arte; el UC Master Gardener regalara cempasuchil; buscar y encontrar; y vendedores de arte locales.
Ofrenda comunitaria: Daniel Camacho invita a los miembros de la comunidad a contribuir con artículos que honren a sus seres queridos. Daniel dice: “A través de una ofrenda conmemoramos y recordamos la vida y muerte de nuestros seres queridos. Es una celebración que nos permite llevarlos en el corazón y darles la bienvenida al mundo de los vivos por una noche”. Daniel invita a la comunidad a contribuir con una fotografía de sus seres queridos y un objeto que represente algo que amaban, por ejemplo, su bebida o tentempié favorito, o un juguete. Los artículos se pueden llevar al Centro de Arte de Richmond en cualquier momento durante el horario de la galería. El altar estará en exhibición en la West Gallery desde el 15 de octubre hasta el final del Día de los Muertos el 3 de noviembre.
Calaveritas de papel maché: En el taller de calaveritas los participantes aprenderán a hacer calaveras de papel maché para un altar del Día de los Muertos. Este taller es de dos días, el sábado 8 de octubre de 12 p. m. a 2 p. m. y el sábado 15 de octubre de 12 p. m. a 2 p. m., es para participantes mayores de seis años (aunque los niños menores de diez años deben traer a un adulto para que los ayude). Regístrate AQUÍ para asistir a ambos talleres y hacer una calaverita. Alternativamente, se invita a la gente a asistir a la segunda sesión el 15 de octubre en el Día de la Familia de Otoño para decorar una calavera prefabricada.
Obra de arte en la imagen superior: Daniel Camacho, De Fantasias y Realidades #2, 2022
Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA
FREE
Join us for an artist panel talk with the artists in the exhibition New Visions: Emerging Artists from Art of the African Diaspora. Kim Champion, Tiffany Conway, Ashara Ekundayo, and Bertrell Smith will be in conversation with curator Demetri Broxton.
Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA
FREE
Join us for the opening reception of Daniel White’s solo exhibition, Melanin: Color, Composition and Connection. The reception will include an artist walk through of the exhibition.
Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond
Please note: Mask wearing is a condition of entry to RAC’s galleries, studios and public indoor spaces. Vaccinations are strongly encouraged. Masks may be removed in our courtyard.
This Saturday at Richmond Art Center is going to be big! There will be edible art, vintage object assemblages, interactive art, and so much more! It’s also your last chance to view the critically acclaimed Emmy Lou Packard exhibition.
“Too many artists are contemptuous of the public,” said Emmy Lou Packard. “Art which loses contact weakens.”
This was the defining principle of Packard, whose work is being shown at an exhibition at the Richmond Art Center. “Artist of Conscience” (aclosing reception takes place on Sat/20) is a timely look at the work of the master linocut printmaker, Diego Rivera protégée, and mentor to Mission muralists.
Emmy Lou Packard, Illustration for Kaiser Shipyards newspaper ‘Fore ’n Aft’, 1944-46, Newspaper. Courtesy of John Natsoulas Gallery and Richmond Art Center
Packard was a largely-unsung San Francisco artist who painted murals throughout the Bay Area, and developed a signature print-making style of modest but highly technical mid-century linoleum prints with humanist subjects, made to be widely available to the public. Packard worked in many mediums and forms, including fresco, oils, watercolor, tile mosaic, wood block, inlaid linoleum, and bas-relief in concrete.
As a venue for the exhibition, the Richmond Art Center connects to Packard’s career at Richmond’s Kaiser shipyards, a time which she called “one of the most interesting and positive in my life in the United States.” At the shipyards, the artist worked as a draftswoman, designing transport vessels in WWII and illustrating the shipyard worker newsletter Fore ‘n’ Aft. Her illustrations for the publication promoted racial desegregation, women’s participation, and safety and dignity in the workplace.
Emmy Lou Packard, Illustration for Kaiser Shipyards newspaper ‘Fore ’n Aft’, 1944-46, Newspaper. Courtesy of John Natsoulas Gallery and Richmond Art Center
“You could say that Packard’s art in and of itself is not explicitly political, but the fact that she made it certainly is,” says Rick Tejada-Flores, a co-curator of the current exhibition alongside visual artist Robbin Légère Henderson.
Packard’s work promoted a strong internationalist humanism. Children of all races are repeated subjects in her prints, urging the viewer against war and environmental destruction.
During her career, Packard also illustrated textbooks for San Francisco public schools, led the effort to save the Rincon Annex Post Office from Richard Nixon’s chopping block, co-founded the Artist’s Equity artist’s union, organized the annual San Francisco Arts Festival, restored the WPA murals at Coit Tower, and spearheaded a campaign that saved the Mendocino Headlands from commercial development.
Emmy Lou Packard, Peace is a Human Right, 1949, Linocut. Courtesy of Ian Thompson and Muna Coobtee, and Richmond Art Center
In 1940, Packard served as Rivera’s principal assistant in the installation of the “Pan American Unity” mural, the largest of Rivera’s “portable” murals at 75 feet high and 22 feet wide, comprised of 10 cement panels, framed by steel. The fresco was painted by Rivera, Packard, and other assistants on Treasure Island over a four-month period and was part of “Art in Action,” a Golden Gate International Exposition program that allowed attendees to observe artists in process.
The panel, originally installed in the Diego Rivera Theater at San Francisco City College, is currently part of the large SFMOMA retrospective of Rivera’s work. The show, on display through next summer, features as its lead curator James Oles, who also knew Packard personally.
Emmy Lou Packard and Frida Kahlo. Photo via Rick Tejada-Flores
Through their shared work Packard became a close personal friend to both Rivera and Frida Kahlo, and captured their relationship in some of the most well-known photographs of the artists.
Born in Southern California, Packard spent time as a child in Mexico, where her father worked as a consultant on agricultural projects. It was there she came into contact with Rivera. Packard was a graduate of UC Berkeley, the San Francisco Art Institute, and a member (along with muralist Victor Arnautoff) of San Francisco’s Graphic Artists Workshop. The Graphic Arts Workshop was formed following the closure of the California Labor School, which “promised to analyze social, economic and political questions in light of the present world struggle against fascism,” and once had an art department as large as the San Francisco Art Institute before it was effectively shuttered by McCarthyism. At GAM, she worked on a mural series depicting a visual history of Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and Pacific Islanders.
Packard left for Mendocino in the late 1950s and returned To San Francisco at the end of the 1960s, settling in the Mission District. Soon after her return, according to Tejada-Flores, word got around the neighborhood about a woman who had worked under Rivera. Packard’s last artistic contribution became the support and mentorship of a generation of Mission artists who would go on to found the community mural movement. She helped to provide a direct link between the artistic lineage of Rivera and contemporary Mission District muralists, resulting in the murals found on the Women’s Building and Balmy Alley, among others.
She died in the Mission District in 1998. At the time of her death, her block prints were stored at the Precita Eyes Muralists Association.
Emmy Lou Packard, Landscape Near Half Moon Bay, 1950s, Linocut with hand coloring. Courtesy of Donald Cairns and Richmond Art Center
Several of the many murals in whose design Packard took part can still be viewed around the Bay Area. A mosaic piece she constructed from found objects with the help of 650 schoolchildren in 1956 is located in the courtyard of Hillcrest Elementary School in San Francisco.
Two of her murals are at the UC Berkeley campus, including a cut concrete bas-relief depicting the California landscape that adorns the facade of Chávez Student Center at Lower Sproul Hall, and another on the exterior of the student union.
Packard oversaw the creation of “Homage to Siqueiros,” a mural inside the Bank of America building at 23rd Street and Mission that was painted by Michael Rios, Jesús “Chuy” Campusano, and Luis Cortázar. Painted “for the people in the Mission who stand on the long lines in the bank on Friday afternoon,” it depicts a narrative history of the Mission District.
But as occurred throughout her lifetime, Packard has largely continued to be ignored by the art world establishment. When organizing “Artist of Conscience,” its curators found that most major museums and historical societies in the Bay Area were not interested in hosting a retrospective of her work (despite at least one institution, the Oakland Museum, already being in possession of more than 40 of her pieces.)
Perhaps this is a testament to the populist nature of her art—Packard intentionally worked in mediums that do not lend themselves to commodification. She often refused to number her prints, re-printing in different colors, sometimes for decades after the original was created.
Or maybe the reason for her relative obscurity is simply the continuing conservatism of the art world. After all, when an opportunity to host Kahlo’s first West Coast exhibition was turned down by SFMOMA, Tejada-Flores says it was Packard who worked with René Yañez and the Galería de la Raza collective to put together a show.
Ultimately, there is a certain joy in the perennial re-discovery of unknown artists like Packard. And there couldn’t be a more perfect venue for her work than the Richmond Art Center: a hidden treasure in the Bay Area, teeming with activity, free, and open to the people.
“EMMY LOU PACKARD: ARTIST OF CONSCIENCE” CLOSING RECEPTIONSat/20, noon-2pm, free. Featuring the Great Tortilla Conspiracy. Richmond Art Center. More info here.
Natalia Robyns-Kresich: Natalia Kresich was born and raised in San Francisco. She has been writing about local issues for 48 Hills for several years.
“Ultimately, there is a certain joy in the perennial re-discovery of unknown artists like Packard. And there couldn’t be a more perfect venue for her work than the Richmond Art Center: a hidden treasure in the Bay Area, teeming with activity, free, and open to the people.” – Natalia Kresich, 48 Hills
“What looks like non-political work is deeply rooted in her [Emmy Lou Packard’s] politics of equality and her belief in the importance of art in daily life.” – Rick Tejada-Flores, The Activist
Artist Ads in the Art of the African Diaspora Catalogue
Optional. Artists can upgrade their Art of the African Diaspora catalogue listing by purchasing a discounted ad (view the 2020 Art Of The African Diaspora Catalogue for ad examples). Artist Ad Rates:
1/4 page ad $50 – 4 ¾” H x 3 ½ W
1/2 page ad $80 – 4 ¾” H x 7 ¾” W
Full page ad $150 – 10 ¾” H x 7 ¾” W
Terms: 1. Artists must be registered to participate in AOTAD 2023 to qualify for a discounted ad. 2. Ads must be submitted in digital format (pdf or eps file), full color, 300dpi and ad slick/print-ready (to size), sent via email to roberto@richmondartcenter.org no later than Monday, October 31, 2022. 3. Ad payment in full must be received by Monday, October 31, 2022. 4. All sales and transactions are final. 5. The Art of the African Diaspora Steering Committee reserves the right to assign advertising space. 6. 100% of ad funds go to the Art of the African Diaspora Steering Committee, who is solely responsible for producing and publishing the catalogue.
Exhibition at Richmond Art Center: January 18 – March 18, 2023 Open Studios: Feb 25-26, Mar 4-5, Mar 11-12, 2023 Satellite Exhibitions: Throughout January, February, March and April Artistic Achievement Awardee Talk: Saturday, January 21, 12:30pm-1:30pm Reception: Saturday, January 21, 2pm-4pm Closing Party: Saturday, March 18, 2pm-4pm
Art of the African Diaspora
Art Of The African Diaspora is a non-juried group exhibition featuring work by artists of African descent. The showcase exhibition is held at Richmond Art Center and is accompanied by self-guided open studio tours and satellite exhibitions throughout the Bay Area. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ART OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA
Questions?
For registration and payment questions contact: Richmond Art Center at 510.620.6772 or admin@richmondartcenter.org
Eligibility: Participation is open to all artists of African descent, who are 16 years or older, and who reside/work within the nine counties of the Bay Area (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma).
Richmond Art Center Exhibition Artwork Requirements:
Media: All media considered
Artwork size:
Wall-hanging artwork may not exceed 40 inches high and 40 inches wide (including the frame)
3D artwork may not exceed 40 inches in any direction
Artwork number: One artwork entry per artist
New and original work: Artwork submissions must be original work created since 2019 that have not previously been exhibited at Richmond Art Center.
Registration Fee: $75
Each registered artist receives:
Opportunity to exhibit 1 artwork at Richmond Art Center:
Available until exhibition is full. There is space for maximum 120 artists in the exhibition at Richmond Art Center. Once we reach capacity artists can still register to participate in satellite exhibitions, open studios and the online listings.
Artist listing in the Art of the African Diaspora catalogue
Opportunity to participate in open studios/satellite exhibitions:
Artists without a space for open studios/satellite exhibitions can request to be offered a space. Artists who do not wish to participate in open studios/satellite exhibitions may choose to opt out at the time of registration (the fee remains the same).
TERMS
Fees: Entry fees are non-refundable.
Photography and Image Use: Richmond Art Center and Art of the African Diaspora reserve the right to use images of submitted artwork, and to photograph the artist, artwork and exhibition for publicity, documentation, and fundraising purposes.
Exhibition at Richmond Art Center:
Delivery of Artwork: Artwork must be delivered to Richmond Art Center during scheduled drop off dates: Friday, Jan 6, 2023, 11am-4pm & Sat, Jan 7, 11am-4pm. Artists who cannot drop off their artwork during these times should arrange for someone else to deliver it for them.
Sales: For any artwork sales at Richmond Art Center: RAC’s commission on a sale is 30%; artist retains 70%.
Pick Up: All unsold artworks must be picked up on the scheduled days: Sat, Mar 18, 2023 4-5:30pm & Mon, Mar 20, 2023 11am-4pm
Open Studios Participants: If an artist or venue hosts other artists, each artist must be a registered participant of Art of the African Diaspora.
CLICK HERE if you would like to purchase an artist ad in the Art of the African Diaspora Catalogue.
Important Dates for Artists:
ARTWORK DROP-OFF AND PICK-UP
Artwork Drop Off at RAC: Friday, Jan 6, 2023, 11am-4pm & Sat, Jan 7, 11am-4pm Artwork Pick Up from RAC: Sat, Mar 18, 2023 4-5:30pm & Mon, Mar 20, 2023 11am-4pm
EVENT DATES
Exhibition at RAC: January 18 – March 18, 2022 Artistic Achievement Awardee Talk: Saturday, January 21, 12:30pm-1:30pm Opening Reception: Saturday, January 21, 2pm-4pm Closing Party: Saturday, March 18, 2pm-4pm
Questions?
For registration and payment questions contact: Richmond Art Center at 510.620.6772 or admin@richmondartcenter.org
Emmy Lou Packard may not be a name that you recognize immediately, but a visit to the Richmond Art Center’s new exhibit on the artist will quickly correct that.
The exhibit Emmy Lou Packard: Artist of Conscience (through August 20 and free to the public) showcases and recognizes the life and timeless works of the Bay Area artist, activist, and visionary in the first show since her death in 1998.
The exhibit Emmy Lou Packard: Artist of Conscience, at the Richmond Art Center, showcases and recognizes the life and timeless works of the Bay Area artist, activist, and visionary in the first show since her death in 1998. Photo: Anna Hoch-Kenney
While Packard was never a household name during her lifetime, she managed to dance continuously just beyond fame’s reach. Packard is most often recognized for her proximity to Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo—they were her mentors, supporters, and close friends. Packard, who showed an early passion for painting, was introduced to Diego Rivera as a child while living in Mexico with her family temporarily. Upon looking over some of her work, Rivera offered to do weekly portfolio reviews with her.
This chance introduction was the start of a great creative mentorship between Rivera and Packard and shaped much of Packard’s future career in the arts. She went on to study art at UC Berkeley and San Francisco Art Institute before reuniting with Rivera both as his studio assistant back in Mexico (during which she lived with Rivera and Kahlo and documented moments of their lives through photography) and as his chief assistant for the Pan American Unity mural he painted for the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1940.
Diego Rivera & Emmy Lou Packard painting for the Golden Gate International Exposition, on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay, 1938-40, Photograph Gelatin silver print, vintage. Courtesy of Throckmorton Gallery and Richmond Art Center
As chief assistant for the project, Packard thoroughly documented the process of creating the mural. Pan American Unity permanently resides at CCSF, but it is currently on display at the SFMOMA; Packard’s notes proved to be critical in understanding the mural, how it was made, and how to safely move it.
Emmy Lou Packard, Peace is a Human Right, 1949, Linocut. Courtesy of Ian Thompson and Muna Coobtee, and Richmond Art Center
The exhibit at the Richmond Art Center, however, makes it obvious that there is much more to Packard’s work than her time as an assistant to Diego Rivera. The gallery consists of prints, paintings, sketches, and photographs made by Packard, switching between several common themes such as nature, childhood, work, and political activism, particularly against war and racism.
During World War ll, Packard created cartoons and drawings encouraging the end of segregation and supporting voting rights for the Fore ‘n’ Aft newspaper at the Kaiser shipyards in Richmond, CA. Her political feelings continued to make appearances in her work and are particularly notable for their timelessness and current relevance.
A satirical print titled “Someone has to Suffer, Madame,” depicts a pig in a business suit with contracts bulging out of his pockets, comforting a mother while explaining “In the event of war, you lose sons. In the event of peace, I lose money.” Another print, created during the McCarthy era, shows two men in suits grabbing hold of George Washington, the caption below reading “We’ve discovered that this guy was an insurgent leader, Boss—What’ll we do now?”
It left me thinking of the irony in that, despite activism and government criticism being a fundamental reason for our nation’s existence, those who voice their dissent are continually considered a threat by our government.
Packard later became a mentor and activist in the Mission mural community, and also led the movement to save the Mendocino headlands—a place that appeared in many of her prints—from development.
In a nod to their collaborative creative relationship, Emmy Lou Packard: Artist of Conscience was timed to perfectly align with SFMOMA’s exhibit on Diego Rivera. And if you happen to visit the Pan American Unity mural, keep an eye open for a blonde Emmy Lou Packard painting in a red sweater. Her name still may not be as recognizable as those of her colleagues, but the power of her art and life’s work is undeniable.
Emmy Lou Packard: Artist of Conscience will be on display at the Richmond Art Center until August 20. A closing reception will be held from 12-2 on August 20, with tortilla printing by The Great Tortilla Conspiracy.
